Postal Dispute Is About To Get Unfrozen: Union Local Reps Are Concerned

Jeff Green | May 07, 2025

It has been five months since members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) were ordered back to work on December 17 after a five week strike.

Unlike other labour disputes that led to interventions by the Federal Ministry of Labour last fall, and unlike earlier labour disputes at Canada Post, CUPW and Canada Post were not ordered to submit to binding arbitration to settle their dispute.

Instead, the now expired contract was reinstated until May 22, with a 5% pay increase, and the matter was referred by Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to a industrial inquiries commission, which will report back on May 15.

As of May 22, a strike or lockout will be a possibility should either side decide to go that route. After an unsuccessful set of negotiations in March, the two sides returned to the bargaining table.

On Friday, in a release to CUPW members, the tone was more positive than at other times during bargaining. According to the release, the two sides discussed “a list of items that had been partially agreed to in previous discussions, with the aim of finalising them as a way to restart and reinvigorate the discussions.”

They did not discuss the most difficult sticking points in the negotiations.

While wages are an issue at the table, with CUPW seeking to see wage gains, after five years of minimal increases during a period where the cost of living has soared, the issue of how to staff weekend parcel delivery is seen as an even more difficult impasse between the two parties.

CUPW Local 556 represents postal workers in both Kingston and Frontenac County. Although it is one local, its members operate under two different contracts, one for urban workers, and one for suburban and rural postal workers.

Tim Ashworth is a long time letter carrier in Kingston, who started with Canada Post over 30 years ago. He has been the President of Local 556 since 2022.

He said that like many members of the public, he is hoping that a strike can be averted this time around.

“Although I can't speak for the National Office, I can say that the vast majority of the 180+ members of CUPW Local 556 are still recovering from the impact of the strike in 2024, and are hoping that CPC and CUPW can come to an agreement that doesn't involve another work stoppage.

None of us want to be locked out or to strike, but we want to work under a fair contract.”

However, he is also adamant that Canada Post needs to address CUPW concerns at the bargaining table, and that the government needs to respect the constitutional rights of unions members.

“To date, Canada Post has not offered a proposal that the membership would be likely to ratify, and the government has removed our constitutional right to strike. In 2024 Local 556 operated picket lines in 8 locations, including a 24 hour watch at the Clarence Street Post Office in downtown Kingston, and we are prepared to do it again.”

Ashworth points out that in 2023, Canada Post invested $750 million in a sorting plant in the Toronto area, and replaced thousands of trucks with a fleet of larger vehicles.

At the same time, the company announced large losses and said it needs to control labour costs in order to survive. It also intends to deliver parcels on weekends in order to compete with courier services that have eaten into its parcel delivery business, a potential growth area for the company.

“We have no problem with weekend delivery, but the problem we have is that they want to bring in gig workers, without offering them any of the benefits that CUPW has negotiated for its members over the years,” he said.

Ashworth said that the weekend shifts could be offered to part-time CUPW workers who are looking for more hours, instead of creating a lower tier of ‘gig’ workers working under conditions similar to what competitors like Amazon and Dragonfly pay their employees.

Laura Doherty is a rural postie who works out of the Inverary Post Office. Her route covers much of the Perth Road area. She is a Vice President of Local 556.

She said that one of her concerns, which was echoed byTim Ashworth, is that the contract for rural workers is inferior to the urban contract.

Urban letter carriers are paid an hourly wage. Tim Ashworth said that his shift runs from 7:30 to 3:30. During that time he sorts and delivers mail to his route. If he can’t get all his work done by 3:30, he gets overtime pay for any more hours that he works.

Laura Doherty is paid by the shift. A complicated process determines what she gets paid for each shift. If she has to work 10 hours to get all the deliveries completed, she gets no extra. She said that workers at Inverary have to wait each morning for the mail truck from Kingston to arrive. It is the last stop on a route that starts in Odessa and works its way across South Frontenac. If the truck arrives at 9:30, sorting begins at 9:30. If the truck arrives later, sorting begins later. Either way, the deliveries don’t start until all the mail is sorted, and don’t end until all the mail is delivered to the farthest corners of her rural route.

She has a fixed route, and there is a worker in Inverary that fills in on routes when other carriers are off. That worker makes 85% of the wage the permanent worker makes, and because they are less familiar with the routes, it takes them longer.

One of the goals of CUPW in this round of negotiations was to integrate rural and urban postal workers in a single contract, so they would have the same responsibilities and benefits. Because negotiations have been so difficult, that goal has slipped away.

“We all want to keep working, and do not want to strike,” she said, “but even if we can sort a contract, there are stresses in rural postal service that will remain.”